Lace fabric



G. M KING LACE FABRIC May 7, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 51, 1962 QN1NVENT0R GILBERT M. KING ATTORNEYS y 7, 3 G. M. KING 3,088,362

LACE FABRIC Filed Jan. 31,' 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l llll l r ull: lll

n "I n] l i l l lf ll v llll lllu llmlllll "mil" III I ll I lllh BY m mm. m Q 9 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR GILBERT M. KING G. M. KING LACE FABRIC May 7, 1963 Filed Jan. 31, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A A A... A wii.[wii5 m m E G N m W R A W m R E B L 6 Y B States This invention relates to a lace fabric of a construction which may have many various uses.

Heretofore in the manufacture of bras of the type which were molded to provide the desired shape, two or three different pieces of fabrics were assembled together and then a molding operation was performed upon these plural plies. Such a fabric comprised usually a front piece upon which the lace design was provided, a back piece and sometimes a middle piece. All were formed of some synthetic moldable fiber such as nylon which could be shaped with heat as desired. The usual several fabrics such as above mentioned required a substantial amount of handling and a consequent high cost of operation.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a one-piece fabric which will have essentially the qualities of the plural ply fabrics heretofore used and yet provide for a simpler operation in the forming of the fabric prerequisite to a molding operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a onepiece fabric of the desired weight of the heretofore assembled plural pieces and to better tie together the assembly so that there will be less shifting or movement of one part relative to the other as might occur in the plural separate pieces which are assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a base fabric upon which any pattern may be superimposed on the composite fabric and all of which may be made on a Leavers lace machine.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a largely expanded relation of a basic fabric of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar view illustrating only the front warp threads;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating middle warp threads alone;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating only the back warp threads;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating only the bobbin threads;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the front warp and middle warp threads combined with the bobbin threads;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the front warp threads and back warp threads combined with the bobbin threads; and

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a design which may be superimposed upon the basic fabric such as shown in FIG. 1.

In proceeding with this invention for formation of a fabric on a Leavers lace machine, I have provided a pinrality of different sets of threads, there being threads which I refer to as front warp threads, another set of threads which I refer to as middle warp threads, a set of threads which I refer to as back warp threads and, of course, there will be the bobbin threads with which these three sets of warp threads are assembled, all of which will go to make the base fabric, while there will be additional center gimp threads and outline threads for making the lace pattern upon the base fabric. The base fabric formed of the three sets of warp threads and the bobbin 3,988,362 Patented May 7, 1963 threads will provide a base or ground which will be tied together to form the composite fabric which will take the place of the heretofore plural pieces of fabric above referred to which have been sewn together.

In the construction of this fabric on a Leavers lace machine, the bobbin threads extend lengthwise of the fabric and the warp threads will be disposed laterally between the bobbins as they progress lengthwise. The warp threads will at all times maintain their relative positions, that is to say, the front warps will at all times be in front of the middle and back warps, the middle warps will be at all times in front of the back warps.

The general tie-in relation will be acquired by using the back warps to tie the front warps to the bobbins and using the middle warps to tie the front warps to the bobbins, thus providing two independent tying relationships of the front warps to the bobbins, one relationship being had by the middle warps tying the front warps to the bobbins and the other relationship being by the back warps tying the front warps to the bobbins. The front warps and the middle warps will be of a much heavier thread or yarn than the back warps or the bobbins. The back warps being of the smaller yarn also provide a filling effect for the fabric and a smoother effect on the back, the filling eifect having the function of filling the fabric so that it cannot be readily seen through.

In this invention the material of the yarns has some effect, and I utilize for the front and middle warp threads nylon yarns of 330 denier monofilament unoriented. The back warp is a multililament nylon 60/1 partially drawn nylon multifilament, and the bobbins are /1 high tenacity nylon yarn. Although most any pattern may be used and the pattern is not essentially a part of this invention, the center gimps are /1 textralized nylon solid filament, and the outline threads are 200/ 3 nylon solid filament.

With reference to the drawings I have illustrated in FIG. 2 the general arrangement of a plurality of front warps, in FIG. 3 a plurality of middle warps, in FIG. 4 a plurality of back warps, in FIG. 5 the bobbins and in FIG. 8 the ornamental pattern which is carried by the base fabric. It will be understood that the bobbins 10, I1, 12, 13 and 14 .(FIG. 5) extend generally longitudinally of the fabric; and although I have shown them as straight, they may take an undulating or waxy pattern depending upon the relative tensions under which the interlaced threads may be placed. The middle warps 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 (FIG. 3) are shown as undulating and may be thought of as defining a helical pattern about the bobbins. These threads may also be straight if at greater tension than the bobbins.

The front warps are shown as of two sets (FIG. 2), one set of shaded yarns 21, 22 and 23 extending laterally back and forth across three bobbins and forming loops at their return bends as at 26, 27, 28 and 29 and another set of front warps, shown as plain, designated 31, 32, 33 and forming loops at their return bends as at 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39.

There are also the back warps as seen in FIG. 4 which are of a size smaller than the front or middle warps and generally of the size of the bobbins which comprise the warps 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 which move laterally also between or across three bobbins each motion of the Leavers lace machine. It might be explained here that in the formation of this fabric the back warp moves every motion of the machine as does also the middle warp, whereas the front warp moves laterally only every other motion or every two motions of the machine. Thus it will be apparent by comparing the FIGS. 2 and 4 that the back warp moves twice as often laterally as do the front warps, and accordingly accounts for the different longitudinal spacing.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 there is illustrated the tying-in relation between the back warps and the front warps, and it will be apparent that a loop 28 of the front warp is on the underside of the bobbin 11 as seen in FIG. 1 or beneath this bobbin 11, and this loop 28 is tied to the bobbin 11 by reason of the back warp 48 passing beneath the loop 28 at location 50 and then over the bobbin at location 51, while the next back warp 47 likewise extends beneath the loop 28 as at 52 and then over the bobbin as at 53, and the next back warp 46 extends beneath the loop at location 54 and over the bobbin as at 55, thus tying the loop 28 to the bobbin by three different back warps preventing the loop 28 which is on the far side of the bobbin as seen in FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 from being pulled laterally or away from the longitudinally extending bobbin. In a similar way the loop 38 of the other front warps 31 which is beneath bobbin 12 as seen in FIG. 7 is tied to the bobbin 12 by reason of the back warp 49 passing beneath the loop 38 as at 56 and over the bobbin as at 57, while the back warp 48 extends under the loop 38 as at 58 and over the bobbin as at 59, and the back warp 47 extends under the loop 38 as at 60 and over the bobbin as at 61, thus typing the loop 38 to the bobbin 12. It will be apparent that this locking repeats throughout the length of the bobbin for each loop of the front warp which crosses the bobbin.

There is also a tying-in relation between the middle warps and the front warps as seen in FIGS. 1 and 6, and it will be apparent that the middle warp 17 passes beneath the loop 28 of the front warp 22 as at 70 and then passes over the bobbin 11 as at 71, thus disposing itself on opposite sides of the bobbin at the location of the loop 28 crossing of the bobbin so as to bind this part of the loop 28 to the bobbin. Similarly, the middle warp 18 binds the loop 38 of the other front warp to the bobbin 12 by passing beneath the loop 38 at the location 80 and then over the bobbin 12 at location 81, thus disposing itself on opposite sides of the bobbin and locking the loop 38 to the bobbin, and it will be apparent that this relationship of the middle warp to the front warps exists at each of the crossings of the loops of the front warps with relation to the bobbins.

As above indicated, the middle warps are shown as wavy or undulating, while the bobbins are shown as substantially straight, 'but it will be understood that if a greater tension is applied upon the middle warps than is applied on the bobbins, then the bobbins will take such undulating form and the middle warps will be straight or under some conditions of relative tension both may be wavy. It will be apparent that the middle warps are substantially twisted with relation to the bobbins, or if one is considered to be a straight line, then the other moves about it in a long helix.

It will also be apparent that I have used the middle warps as a tie to lock the front warps to the bobbin completely independent of any tie by the back warps, and likewise the back warps are utilized to provide a tie of the loops of the front warps to the bobbin completely independent of any tie by the middle warps. Thus in case either one of these tying threads, that is, the middle warps or the back warps, become injured, there is still a fabric provided by a tying relationship.

Inasmuch as the front warps always maintain a relatively front relationship, the middle warps a relatively middle relationship and the back warps a back relationship with reference to the other warps, there is essentially provided a plural ply fabric although the warps of the middle and back parts are utilized as means for tying the front warps to the bobbin so as to provide a fabric. Thus, although a heavier and stronger relationship is provided, there is also provided a good tying relationship by reason of the movement of the threads in the machine to provide the fabric described, and yet a very smooth and filled fabric is provided by reason of the back warps which move each motion of the machine.

In FIG. 8 I have illustrated a lace design which may be superimposed upon the basic fabric as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1. In this lace design there are the outlined threads and the middle gimp threads 86 which are laid onto the fabric and tied in a known relationship as the fabric is formed in the Leavers lace machine. It will be understood that various different designs such as shown generally at 87 in FIGURE 8 may be utilized and the particular design plays no part of the invention in this case.

I claim:

1. A lace fabric comprising a base upon which an ornamental pattern is superimposed, said base comprising a plurality of spaced bobbin yarns, a plurality of front warps extending back and forth between the paths of the bobbin yarns and providing loops at their reversals, back warps also extending back and forth between the paths of the bobbin yarns and locking the front warps to the bobbin yarns by passing from the back of the loop of the front warps through the loop and across the front of the bobbin yarn to lock the loop thereto, and middle warps extending in the direction of and along the bobbin yarns and passing between said loops and the bobbins yarns and then about the bobbin yarns to lock the loops to the bobbin yarns.

2. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein said back warps extend laterally between the bobbin yarns twice as frequently as the front warps.

3. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein said back warps and middle warps move laterally with reference to the bobbin yarns twice as frequently as the front warps.

4. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein the back warps are smaller than the front warps.

5. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein the back warps are smaller than the front warps and the middle warps.

6. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein the back warps and bobbin yarns are smaller than the front warps.

7. A lace fabric as in claim 1 wherein the back warps and bobbin yarns are smaller than the front warps and the middle warps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,584,074 Blore May 11, 1926 1,631,886 Pepper June 7, 1927 2,723,588 Wheatcroft Nov. 15, 1955 

1. A LACE FABRIC COMPRISING A BASE UPON WHICH AN ORNAMENTAL PATTERN IS SUPERIMPOSED, SAID BASE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACED BOBBIN YARNS, A PLURALITY OF FRONT WARPS EXTENDING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE PATHS OF THE BOBBIN YARNS AND PROVIDING LOOPS AT THEIR REVERSALS, BACK WARPS ALSO EXTENDING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE PATHS OF THE BOBBIN YARNS AND LOCKING THE FRONT WARPS TO THE BOBBIN YARNS BY PASSING FROM THE BACK OF THE LOOP OF THE FRONT WARPS THROUGH THE LOOP AND ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE BOBBIN YARN TO LOCK THE LOOP THERETO, AND MIDDLE WARPS EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF AND ALONG THE BOBBIN YARNS AND PASSING BETWEEN SAID LOOPS AND THE BOBBINS YARNS AND THEN ABOUT THE BOBBIN YARNS TO LOCK THE LOOPS TO THE BOBBIN YARNS. 